In response to an RMT statement today, a Southern spokesperson said: “We ran nearly nine in ten train services during the RMT strike two days ago and over half (54 per cent) of our on board supervisors (OBS) and conductor staff reported for work on the day too.

“The RMT leadership should recognise these facts and that our passengers are noticing that the RMT’s action against them is increasingly impotent and ineffective.

“The union should now bring their saga of strikes to an end. We are reviewing their letter and our response to it.”

Meanwhile the RMT has called for urgent talks to clarify GTR’s position on the future role of conductors.

It has written to Charles Horton, chief executive officer of GTR, prior to a meeting of the union’s executive committee on Tuesday (February 28), which will consider the future of the dispute with a view to calling more strikes.

Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT, said: “RMT continues to seek a guarantee on a second safety critical member of staff – something our members have been fighting for nearly a year on.